Uber adds Paid Wait Time; additional features for driver-partners

November 8, 2017

As part of Uber’s commitment to put driver-partners first, it has promised to continuously work on improving the app to ensure drive-partners have only a positive experience with the app, by addressing every concern.

Effective Tuesday, November 7, 2017, Uber announced Paid Wait Time, another impactful feature to make the Uber experience more productive (and less stressful!) for driver-partners and their passengers.

Long wait times can be stressful for driver-partners. By the time they arrive at the pick-up location, the driver has already invested fuel, time and effort in getting to a rider.

With the “Paid Waiting Time” policy, Uber will ensure driver-partners get paid per minute if a rider keeps them waiting for more than five minutes after the driver arrives at their pick-up location. With arrival times now just a few minutes, riders need to only request a ride when it’s time to leave.

Lola Kassim, General Manager for Uber West Africa, explained that, “The Paid Wait Time feature is a simple addition that riders will be able to quickly adapt to, but importantly, it makes a big difference to driver-partners efficiency and contribute to that stress-free experience that we aim to achieve.”

Last month, Uber announced new features for driver-partners (Arrival Time, Long Trip Notification and Rating Protection) that have made it even easier for driver-partners across Ghana to choose when, where, and how they drive.

“We know that these features are addressing key concerns of driver-partners and we understand their frustrations. These features focus on three keys areas: more flexibility for drivers when it comes to when they want to use Uber, using our technology to create a stress-free experience, and building on safety,” Kassim added.

Asenso, a driver-partner in Accra, explained that, “These new features really help us, sometimes riders give us a low rating when they had a problem with the app, which meant I received a low rating – thankfully I don’t need to worry anymore.”

With the new ratings policy, these types of ratings won’t count towards a drivers score.

Uber will still get the feedback to help them improve but it won’t impact the driver’s overall rating.

Uber’s goal is to help riders and drivers connect quickly and easily, so they can get on their way, and Uber hopes these new updates provide the flexibility to test new ideas and improve the reliability of the Uber app for everyone.

About Uber

Uber’s mission is to help people get a ride at the push of a button – everywhere and for everyone.

It started in 2009 to solve a simple problem – how do you get a ride at the touch of a button?

Eight years and over two billion trips later, they have started tackling an even greater challenge; that is reducing congestion and pollution in cities by getting more people into fewer cars.

The Uber network is now available in over 600 cities in over 75 countries spanning 6 continents.

To request a ride, users must download the free application for Android, iPhone, Blackberry 7, or register for Uber at www.uber.com/go. For questions visit www.uber.com
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Source: Uber